Camouflage make-up

US Navy soldier with camouflage make-up during jungle war training

Tarnschminke ( English camouflage face paint ) is a military make-up , which is intended to face and also the forearms of a soldier to (if rolled up his shirt sleeves) camouflage . The basic colors for camouflage make-up are olive and black , as well as brown . Camouflage make-up is supplied in tubes, cases and make-up sticks and applied with a finger or make-up stick. It is also usually prescribed by service regulations how the soldier has to wear them on the face. The regulation states that, for example, the face, ears, throat and neck are primed olive green first and then the camouflage scheme is painted over it.

Three camouflage schemes are e.g. B. taught in the Bundeswehr :

• Z camouflage: a solid black pattern in the form of an irregular Z over the forehead, face and chin.
• Line camouflage: continuous black diagonal lines over the face and neck.
• Spot camouflage : irregularly distributed black spots.

Since camouflage make-up runs through sweat during a maneuver or combat mission, the soldier has to put on make-up if the situation allows. If he does not have a mirror with him to properly make up, he has to rely on comrade help.

When there was still no camouflage make-up in the Bundeswehr, people used paper ash, charcoal or corks to camouflage their faces , which were briefly lit with a lighter and then rubbed the charred cork on the face. As long as the situation in combat requires it, this still applies today.

Allergy sufferers who are sensitive to the ingredients of camouflage make-up or people with acne may alternatively camouflage their faces with an olive-green, officially supplied mosquito face net in the Bundeswehr with a certificate from the military doctor .

Soldiers with heavily pigmented skin, for example African Americans in the US Army , forego the black or brown color due to their complexion , but still use the olive or beige colors.

One of the ingredients in camouflage make-up is paraffin .

The US defense and technology group Lockheed Martin Corporation is said to have developed a camouflage make-up on behalf of the US Department of Defense that, in addition to the camouflaging effect, also provides heat protection at temperatures of up to 600 degrees Celsius, e.g. B. triggered by a detonating explosive device offers.

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  A Tennessee National Guard soldier is given camouflage makeup

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  In order to be able to put on make-up better, a US Marine uses a side mirror of a vehicle to help

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  A US soldier uses an officially delivered mirror from his camouflage make-up case to help put on his camouflage make-up

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  An officer of the Idaho Air National Guard applies camouflage make-up to match his uniform with the help of his case mirror

See also

• Disguise and deceive
• camouflage
• Body painting

literature

• Cole Louison: US Army Zombie Combat Skills . Lyons Press, 2009, ISBN 978-1-59921-909-7 , pp. 88 (English).
• John Goetz, Susanne Koelbl, Marcel Rosenbach, Alexander Szandar: The leadership failed . In: Der Spiegel . No. 40 , 2007 ( spiegel.de ).
• Army Field Manual FM 31-70 (Basic Cold Weather Manual)
• United States. Dept. of the Army, Combat training of the individual soldier and patrolling , 1967, Headquarters, Department of the Army,

Web links

Commons : Camouflage make-up  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Heat protection: camouflage make-up cools soldiers' heads . In: Spiegel Online . August 23, 2012 ( spiegel.de [accessed November 12, 2017]).